Baseball's Greatest Players: The Juggernauts and 10 numbers that define them originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
They delivered season after season, authoring some of the game’s most storied chapters. Their prolonged excellence sets them apart.
Baseball greatness manifests many forms, a concept at the core this project, aimed at contextualizing those contours. Among our Sporting News 140 greatest players to celebrate SN's 140th anniversary resides a group of ballplayers so relentless in their pursuit of excellence that most are household names for casual baseball fans.
Fixtures atop historical leaderboards, admission into this group required a career approaching two decades of dominance.
Ascending the baseball summit is a formidable challenge, but sustaining that performance for a full career is a nearly impossible feat, historically speaking. These perennial All-Stars and enduring postseason heroes not only adapted to an evolving game, but defied aging bodies and fresh competition with tremendous skill and an indomitable spirit.
Welcome to The Juggernauts.
BASEBALL'S GREATEST PLAYERS
How we picked 140 players | The Immortals | The Artists | The Unicorns
(Editor's note: Each hyperlinked name takes you to that player's page within the digitized SN Archive. Once registered (it's free!), readers have instant access to every article and cover related to each player, as they originally appeared in print.)
Baseball's Greatest Players: The Juggernauts
Oscar Charleston
Those who saw Oscar Charleston play regarded him as the equal of Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker, the most celebrated center fielders of their day, yet history didn't remember him as such until long after his death. How great was Charleston? Bill James once ranked him as the fourth-best player of all-time behind only Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner and Willie Mays.
In 37 recorded games against AL/NL competition, Oscar Charleston slashed .355/.420/.738 (230 OPS+) with a 162-game proration of 148 runs, 122 extra base hits, and 166 RBI. No player in MLB history has reached those three thresholds within a single season.
Jimmie Foxx
Blessed with unmatched strength that sent baseballs to places never before reached, Jimmie Foxx retired as the most prolific right-handed slugger in American League history.
Foxx collected 1,403 RBI in the 1930s, more than any player in any decade in MLB history.
Bob Gibson
It was an unwavering swagger and a venomous pitch repertoire, headlined by a wipeout slider and overpowering fastball, that made Bob Gibson one of the most intimidating pitchers in baseball history.
In 1968, Gibson threw 331.2 innings (including postseason) and was not removed from the mound in the middle of any of them.
SN Archives (1968):Bob Gibson just completed the greatest pitcher season ever
SN
Frank Robinson
Adored by teammates and feared by opponents, Frank Robinson transformed the fortunes of two franchises and retired as one of the most decorated players of his generation.
Robinson owns the best batting line (by OPS+) in the history of the Reds and Orioles, which have been playing since 1882 and 1901, respectively.
Miguel Cabrera
In an era of increased specialization, Miguel Cabrera wore both crowns: he hit for average and hit for power, and he did each better than nearly all of his peers.
Only two of 28 500-HR club members won more than two batting titles — Ted Williams (6) and Cabrera (4).
Greg Maddux
Greg Maddux proved overpowering stuff was not a prerequisite for dominating hitters, which he did with impeccable command and signature efficiency.
Maddux pitched for 23 seasons, during which he spent only 15 days on the disabled list (2-week stint in 2002 with inflamed nerve in lower back).
Rogers Hornsby
Rogers Hornsby lived his baseball life with a razor focus, one that produced jaw-dropping numbers and alienated most everyone in the game who crossed his path.
Hornsby hit .402 from 1921-25, the highest average over any five-season span in MLB history.
SN
Steve Carlton
Steve Carlton overwhelmed hitters with a sizzling fastball and disappearing slider that were indistinguishable from each other, shattering preconceptions of what a lefty could achieve.
Carlton won 27 games on a 59-win Phillies team in 1972, the highest percentage (46%) of team wins in a season by any modern-era pitcher (since 1900).
Mike Schmidt
Mike Schmidt’s two defining claims are beyond reproach: the greatest third baseman in baseball history and the greatest player to ever wear a Phillies uniform.
Schmidt hit 548 career homers, most by any player in MLB history that spent his entire career with one franchise.
Joe Morgan
Standing 5-foot-7, Joe Morgan played the game with a presence that belied his stature, reaching his peak as the engine of the Big Red Machine.
Joe Morgan accumulated 20.5 WAR in 1975-76, the 3rd-highest total by any player on back-to-back World Series champions (1927-28 Babe Ruth/Lou Gehrig).
Our process for Baseball's Greatest Players
Every week through the end of the World Series, we'll unveil one room at a time — 10 players along with the numbers that define them — culminating in the Inner Circle, the 10 greatest to ever play, period.
We researched and considered over 500 names, weighing not only fundamental changes to the game, but also factoring in modern metrics, recently uncovered Negro Leagues data, shifting league demographics and the evolution of today's stars. We stripped away preconceptions and applied objective, critical analysis to every player under consideration.
SN140:Baseball's greatest 25 teams since 1886
Once we landed on 140 names, we decided that traditional rankings simply don't work for baseball. How is one to honestly assess if Cy Young — a pitcher whose career began in the 19th century — is greater than Albert Pujols, a 21st-century slugger? How do you compare Josh Gibson in the Negro Leagues to Jackie Robinson in the National League?
Instead, we created 14 position-less rooms, each representing and articulating varying archetypes of greatness.
- Immortals
- Artists
- Unicorns
- Juggernauts
- Supernovas
- Unsung
- Showmen
- What-ifs
- Pioneers
- Prodigies
- Stalwarts
- Beloved
- Pariahs
- Inner Circle
From there, we slotted 10 players into each room with careers connected by defining common threads.
We factored in modern metrics, recognized and utilized now accessible Negro Leagues data, contextualized changing league demographics, considered functional changes to the game such as strike zone and mound height adjustments, and included active players alongside their historical counterparts.
The result?
The most unique, comprehensive and celebratory evaluation to date of Baseball's Greatest Players.